Thursday, September 15, 2016

The Geezer Ride is this Saturday at 8:00am starting from Gateway Park in Cedar Falls, Iowa. If you are coming, or thinking about it, please read the Ride Page and then the rest of this post.

I was contacted by a local here and asked several questions which I was allowed to share with you all here. They are great questions and I hope that the answers will all help you understand what the Geezer Ride is all about and how it works.

(1) I tried to print the map with directions from Plotaroutehttps://www.plotaroute.com/route/285107
I did this by selecting the menu button on the map and selecting print.
It comes up with map, profile, and directions being selected, but it
omitted the directions. So, my question--will we
always be within sight of each other so no turns can be missed? Yes,
we will be in sight of each other, and if not, we stop and go back to
see if anyone had trouble, (flat tire, for example), so no worries that
way. However; I am printing up cue sheets for those who want them or
need to cut the ride short. There are a lot of good short cuts, so that
won't be an issue.

(2) It sounds like there is no lunch stop at a particular location,
so we are just snacking along the way with food we are bringing? Are
you planning to stop for lunch along the way or should I bring food I
can eat while riding? You should bring along something to eat.
That said, I have talked my wife into bringing water and a few items to
snack on at the midway point.

(3) Are there potty stops? Convenience stores, etc? There
will be no "official" places to relieve oneself, but there are plenty
of corn fields and woods along the way. There will be no convenience
store stops unless we as a group decide to go about 5 miles out of our
way to stop at Denver. But I don't plan on this.

(4) Any reason to bring a lock--i.e. any chance we'd be inside eating someplace? You may want to bring a lock for the after ride, social gathering if you ride down town.

(5) Once I get my schedule sorted out, how do I register--I don't
have a blog so can't sign on like the few did on the Geezer page. Will
an email to you suffice sometime Friday? An e-mail is fine. There is no "official" registration for these Geezer Rides. g.ted.productions@gmail.com

Anything else? The pace will be casual. There will be "fast
guys/gals" that may show up, but the understanding is that we keep the
pace chill. I will often times make faster riders stop and wait for
slower ones. The overall pace is that of the slowest individual. That's
why I mention on the ride page that it may take 5 hours or more to
complete the ride.

So, there are a few really great questions that pertain to this particular Geezer Ride. Again- there is no registration, and the ride is free. Keep in mind that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF! There are no sag wagons. So, please, be aware of this ahead of time.The route is easy, and the pace will be slow, so do not worry about being left behind or having to suffer too much. There will be hills and wind, and I suspect a beginner rider would find this "epic", but it is entirely doable.

I plan on having Mrs. Guitar Ted arrive at the halfway point with water and maybe a few snacks, but please be prepared with water and food of your own. Finally, I have no good idea at this point who is coming, so if you have not indicated you will be there, please e-mail me or comment on this post. Thanks!

The Weather: Early fears of forecast showers seem to have been allayed by an update to "mostly sunny" and a high of 74°F. There will be a Northwest breeze of 10-15mph, and in my experiences, you can add about 10mph to that out in the country, so there will be a wind to contest with at times. That said, there are not many hills on this course and we should be okay. plus, with all the churches and other notable sites, we will be stopping quite often. Once again, I have no clue as to what Black Hawk county is doing with the roads, but I'd say expect lots of freshly laid gravel. It is harvest season time and the roads get lots of gravel at this point in the year.